Soccer FUN! AYSO Soccer want them to have fun but still learn the
Activities easily join in the fun and play basic soccer
The sport of soccer has a storied history
in the State of Missouri. In the late 19th
century, teams began competing in citywide
leagues in St. Louis. In the early 19th century,
amateur soccer began to thrive. Teams were
associated with churches and manufacturing
and retail companies. Prominent teams in
that era included St. Leo’s, Ben Millers and
Scullin Steel.
Soccer continue to thrive throughout
most of the 20th century. Presently, Sporting
KC plays in the top tier of US soccer (MLS).
St. Louis is on its way to securing their own
MLS franchise. More locally, Demize Soccer
is an amateur soccer club-based out of
Premier Soccer League. Last season, they
played home games in Waynesville, Spring-
Hickory County soccer began in the
spring of 2017 with the support of a handful
of local volunteers. The goal was to bring
an activity to Hickory County that would
involve the youngest of our youths. The result
was soccer. This lead to partnering with
AYSO (America Youth Soccer Organization) a
national organization.
Our program has evolved over the last
year and has grown into a community sport
with the help of AYSO. The program is
strictly funded through player registrations
and the generous donations of our local
business community. Our program supports
and teamwork.
from playing soccer:
• Requires very little equipment so
it can be played in the backyard or park.
• Easy to learn so beginners can
8 / Vacation Pomme de Terre 2019
for recreation.
• A sport in which boys and girls
can both compete.
In our program, we concentrate more on
the relaxed form of play. At the start, the
kids are taught the basics, such as dribbling,
kicking, passing, trapping etc. We want
them to experience the game in the most
fun way possible so we let them PLAY!
They begin to discover the game. The
games are ‘short-sided’, meaning they are
played with 3 or 4 players on a side. This
gives them more playing time, more opportunities
to score goals and make saves and
better opportunities to learn the game. We
fundamentals of the game. Most importantly,
it’s about having FUN!
Practices and games take place below
the dam at the Outlet Park on Pomme De
Terre Lake. There is a spring season that
runs from late March to early May and a fall
season that runs from early September into
to 6 years of age. The 8-year-old division was
added the following year with the goal in
2019 to include9 and 10-year-old children.
Volunteers: All year long the Board
Members are hard at work getting ready for
each season. But the volunteering doesn’t
stop there. Each team has a volunteer coach,
a volunteer assistant coach, and volunteer
buddies. Parents are also part of the team-
-without their volunteer efforts the teams
would not exist.
Why do these people put all this time
into AYSO? “They do it for the kids”. Each
of our volunteers get back a large measure
of satisfaction in helping our kids and our
community.